No less than 10 armed “militia” groups, all composed of private citizens, have ganged up together to patrol the Texas-Mexico border, with a mission to seek out “illegals” — child refugees coming in from Central America.

Leading the groups is Chris Davis, a former truck driver discharged from the Army in 2001 “under other than honorable conditions in lieu of trial by court martial.” Davis is asking his followers to threaten and shoot to kill any child they see crossing the border seeking refuge. “You see an illegal. You point your gun dead at him, right between his eyes, and you say, 'Get back across the border or you will be shot.'”

While Republicans remain silent on condemning these fascist, domestic terrorist groups, Democrats have denounced the groups and call for appropriate action by law enforcement officials.

More on the border crisis below the jump.The San Antonio Express-Newspublished over 30 photos of these groups, consisting majority of Caucasian men.

The photographs showed “dozens of members carrying semi-automatic rifles and wearing masks, camouflage and tactical gear.” Their faces blurred, not because members know their actions are vile and illegal, but because members fear retaliation by the “cartel and gang members.”

The official policy of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) does not “endorse or support any private group or organization from taking matters into their own hands as it could have disastrous personal and public safety consequences.” However, one of the photographs obtained by the San Antonio Express-News shows CBP agents giving directions to these men.

Democrats have been quick to denounce these groups.

“Local law enforcement and federal border patrol agents have been clear,” said Van de Putte to the San Antonio Express-News. “The presence of these outside independent militia groups does nothing to secure the border; it only creates an unsafe situation for law enforcement officials that are protecting our communities. Unfortunately, the vile rhetoric of my opponent inspires misguided efforts.”

Congressman Joaquin Castro called out the Republican Party for not coming forward to denounce these groups:

“Not a single Texas Republican leader has come out to denounce these armed militias who are taking the law into their own hands, including Attorney General Greg Abbott, who is supposed to be our top law enforcement official and who wants to be our next Governor.

– Involve acts dangerous to human life that violate federal or state law;

– Appear intended (i) to intimidate or coerce a civilian population; (ii) to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or (iii) to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination. or kidnapping; and

– Occur primarily within the territorial jurisdiction of the U.S.

If the shoe fits…

Update 6:50pm: Correction to a previous link citation: Davis' discharge information was an exclusive published at the San Antonio Express-News, not The Monitor.

About Author

Staff writer Omar Araiza covers immigration, Latino voters, the U.S.-Mexico border, and LGBT issues. He is a proud South Texas native, born and raised in the lower Rio Grande Valley. Omar tweets from @AraizaTX.